Travel Guides

Mid-Autumn Festival

Taking place on the 15th day of the eighth lunar month, this
festival is sometimes referred to as 'Lantern Festival' (not to be
confused with the Lantern Festival which ends Chinese New Year) or
'Mooncake Festival' in Singapore, Malaysia and the Philippines, due
to the integral part moon cakes play in the festival. It
commemorates the 14th-century revolution led by Yuan Zhang, who
smuggled notes inside moon cakes and used lighted lanterns as a
signal to launch the revolt. One of the highlights of the festival
is the Moon Cake Fair, where hundreds of festive stalls line the
streets of Chinatown selling an astonishing variety of moon cakes,
traditional paper lanterns, decorations and other delicacies.
Children parade down the streets with their brightly lit lanterns
in the Children's Lantern Procession. The Chinese Garden becomes a
fairyland of lights and colours for the Lantern Festival, and there
is also a range of cultural shows and performances including lion
and dragon dancing, Chinese instrumentalists and craftsmen. In
fact, with far too much festivity for one day, the Mid-Autumn
Festival is a month-long celebration in Singapore and a great
period in which to visit the city.